Ed Scarpo's Blog, page 17

FBI Launches Major Probe Into Philadelphia Mob

"Uncle Joe" in cross-hairs?
Cosa Nostra News Exclusive
Edited; more on Ligambi's background
The FBI has tripled the size of its squad in Philadelphia and has brought in a well-seasoned supervisory agent from New York to oversee what appears to be the formation of a new Organized Crime Strike Force, reliable sources have told Cosa Nostra News.

One of the operation's key goals is reportedly to nail Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and his top associates for three unsolved gangland hits in the city. Those murders were committed while Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, reputed official boss, and former consiglieri/Ligambi nephew George Borgesi were in prison.

The Fed's also are aggressively investigating a mobster considered Ligambi's chief shooter from back when "Uncle Joe" was tasked with holding together a badly battered and fractured Cosa Nostra family. That was the backdrop against which the three murders, now intensely being scrutinized, were committed.
That shooter is reputed Philadelphia captain Michael "Mikey Lance" Lancelotti, 51, who reportedly now assists in the running of the family's daily operations after recovering from cancer. Lance was a shooter, likely for both Merlino and Ligambi.
Lancelotti "never came up in any of the major RICO trials that put lots of guys away, " a source told CNN.

Merlino inducted Mikey Lance in the 1990s, bolstering Merlino and Stevie Mazzone's efforts to win the family war with Sicilian-born boss John Stanfa, who is now serving life for racketeering and murder.

Gangster Report noted that it was told by a retired FBI agent that, “We heard Lance was possibly one of the shooters in the Joey Chang hit and Merlino planned it and was in a car nearby monitoring things."

Ligambi, when he rose to acting boss after Merlino went away, created a tight-knit inner circle that included longtime Philadelphia mobsters such as Joseph Massimino, Gaeton Lucibello, and Lancelotti.

In an intriguing profile of Uncle Joe, George Anastasia wrote on Philly.com in May 2011:

"Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi is a former bartender and suspected hit man who allegedly took control of the Philadelphia mob a decade ago... He was... part of the Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo crime family, having been formally initiated - "made" - after the slaying of Frank "Frankie Flowers" D'Alfonso back in July 1985. But he was never considered part of Scarfo's inner circle and never part of the mob hierarchy. In fact, before he was arrested in the D'Alfonso case, few outside of the South Philadelphia underworld had ever heard of him. His reign as reputed mob boss, however, is the longest since that of Angelo Bruno, the avuncular Mafia don who ran the family from 1959 until his murder in 1980."


A cancer survivor, he was running the day to day.
The three hits said to be part of a larger probe into the re-surging Philadelphia crime family are John "Johnny Gongs" Casasanto, a young mob soldier who couldn't keep it in his pants and was reportedly seeking to join New York's Gambino crime family; Ronnie Turchi, hit in 1999; and Raymond “Long John” Martorano, who was whacked in 2002.

Members of organized crime in Philadelphia have indeed kept law enforcement busy in recent months, as reported.

Federal, state and local law enforcement entities are indeed surveilling mobsters as they move in and out of the new social club on 11th and Jackson. They are monitoring the group's moves into Philadelphia's booming home building/home renovation business, which has fueled the vibrant construction work seen across the city.

Ligambi is back in harness, serving as acting boss, with Stevie Mazzone reportedly serving as underboss.

It was only a couple of years ago that Ligambi was talking retirement, with the media, however. This was after he got out of prison in July 2014 following two mistrials for what primarily amounted to gambling-related charges.
Ligambi reportedly wanted to relax, to summer in Longport and winter in Florida.

Beneath the seemingly tranquil surface there may be as many as four factions vying for control, with the very visible and very active Borgesi making moves all over the place.

Today, the crime family has about 30 to 40 members on the street; plus several new members, who were recently inducted. The Philly mob hasn't been this large since the bloody days of Nicky  Scarfo's reign.


Mikey Lance, second on left.

The FBI's Philadelphia organized crime squad was enlarged from around 3 to 4 agents, to 12, and a veteran supervisor was brought in from New York. Sources wouldn't identify him for non-disclosed reasons, but another source said the agent is believed to be a former head of the Gambino squad.

This enlargement of the FBI unit to monitor the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra clan, which interestingly hasn't been named after a boss since the violent Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo era is likely part of a new Organized Crime Task Force that would include state and local law enforcement agencies, as well, sources said.
This follows a few moves made by elements of the Philadelphia-based Cosa Nostra clan that raised the Mafia family's profile in both media reports as well as media reports. The Philadelphia mob recently opened up a social club and also inducted five new members last October. News of the ceremony was quickly leaked to the media.

"Borgesi is in full-throttle," said one source, noting that he's been very visible lately, visiting the club on 11th and Jackson Streets. He's also been holding meetings there supposedly with gangsters from other regions of the country.

"Uncle Joe" has been seen going to the club less frequently.

Still, all of them are under major surveillance, sources said, with one noting, "The Feds are watching them like a hawk."


Cosa Nostra Clan Made Five
Among the newly initiated members of the crime family (two appear specifically to have been put forth by Borgesi, sources told Cosa Nostra News) are
George Borgesi's younger brother, Anthony;Steven "Handsome Stevie" Mazzone's brother, Salvatore "Sonny" Mazzone;David "Dave" Salvo, one of two brothers who served as Borgesi's emissaries while he was on parole (David also allegedly was Ligambi's driver for a time, earlier in "Uncle Joe's" tenure as boss); Anthony Accardo, a violent associate who was one of about a dozen local mobsters indicted in 2000 on a slew of racketeering charges.
Accardo pleaded guilty but refused to testify against reputed mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino and other mob members.
This is likely a key reason he got his button. As prosecutors said at the time, Accardo had bolstered his street cred exponentially and is now viewed by area gangsters as "a stand-up guy."
"He will be in a perfect position to step right back into these criminal actions" when he gets out of prison, the prosecutor predicted.


Ligambi, 72, is known as the peaceful Don who cooled down flaring tempers and stabilized a crime family riven by decades of strife and rampant violence that began with the spectacular shotgun murder of Angelo Bruno in 1980 and continued on through the regimes of Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, John Stanfa, and Ralph Natale, then Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, who, along with the family's young turks, had fought an open war against boss Stanfa for control. (Natale has been described as a front boss for Merlino when Merlino went off to prison.)

Ligambi, part of the Scarfo gang, also had ties to Merlino's father and showed he had the chops to be boss and keep the family together. Ligambi gets kudos (ironically from both law enforcement and the Five Families) for stabilizing the troubled Philadelphia-South Jersey branch of the American Cosa Nostra, thereby ending the violence.

He also revived the crime family, which was close to extinction.

Why Earlier Versions of Gotti Biopic Failed

From New York magazine's We’re Going to Take Over F---ing Hollywood              Illustration by Ward Sutton


PART ONE DRAFT: It was announced last September that the John Travolta Gotti biopic, which twice previously had collapsed, was back in production. 

But that was then. In February, the New York Post's Page Six reported that Travolta’s publicist had said that Travolta was still in negotiations for the role. 

"Once negotiations are finalized, we will have a start date for you," the publicist told Page Six, which noted: "The movie’s neophyte producers are John Gotti Jr. and ex-con Marc Fiore, who once pleaded guilty in a multimillion-dollar pump-and-dump stock scam."


Variety broke news of the film in 2010, in Fiore to bring John Gotti Jr. to bigscreen, which was subtitled: Production is slated to start next year, reporting that "the life of John Gotti Jr. and his mobster father will become a feature from New York production company Fiore Films, which is planning a production start next year with $15 million from private investors."
Gotti told Daily Variety, "The story’s about redemption. My father had a hard time accepting that I ultimately didn’t want to follow his path." He added that, despite Hollywood's widespread interest, Gotti said "it was easy to choose Marc Fiore as the producer despite his being a relative unknown in the world of filmmakers.""I’m most interested in this story getting told accurately, and I think Marc can do that,” he added. “This is not going to be an expose of the mob or a shoot-em-up.”

The question, however, seems to be not so much which genre the film will fall under. Rather, the question seems to be: will the movie ever actually be filmed, period.

Actor Leo Rossi was reportedly working on the script, which would "focus on the complex relationship between Gotti and his father — the flamboyant head of the Gambino crime family in New York, who spent the last decade of his life in prison before dying of cancer in 2002."

One key scene, the story noted, would be "the son’s last visit to his father to say he was ending his life of crime and getting out of the family business."

Message to a Missing "Friend"

One of my sources is MIA and this I consider a problem...

Deciding whether to continue a dialogue is entirely the source's call. But the fact is, in this case, he'd been trying to reach me -- but never responded after I reached out to him.
This was well over two months ago....
I've got a list of phone numbers he's used, and none of them work.
Bottom line is I'm unable to reach him and I'm concerned.
I can't name him, obviously, but I realize now that my best chance is this blog. So that means I need to talk over your heads to him.

I well know this probably looks foolish and that some of you will think I'm trying to create drama. My friends will understand. Everyone else please indulge me here. 
I'm as serious as a heart attack.
Okay pal:

You told me about Tony Green. The flat tire... He abused two ranking guys by making them change the tire.  

You told me about a phone call from Urso about a "phony raid"... Helicopters, a full predawn raid, by mistake. 

Just wanna know you're okay, pal, that's it.

Text me, leave a comment on here -- under any story, just reply to me and I'll know it's you.... I'll pull this asap once I hear from you.... 

Final Mob Wives Thoughts....(Really, This Is It)

Christ, they didn't have the money to take a season six cast photo?
I decided to pull the plug on my previously announced "Mob Wives" endeavor.

I'm not to going to inflict my readers with anymore of my Mob Wives hysterics.... I know they don't appreciate it.

As you'll see, there's far too much Cosa Nostra news piling up that needs covering. Scars called me with an excellent idea.... I need to jump on that quickly.



I do have a few quick words for a few Mob Wives cast members....

Drita D'Avanzo, I know you probably hate me for all my Lee coverage. I never spoke to any of your costars for any of my info. I can only say I hope he realizes a button is worth less than nothing today. He should walk the straight and narrow.... Cosa Nostra life is simply impossible today.

He should ask Eddie G's uncle... or maybe not, if his last name begins with a P....

They're all rats and dry snitches and informants today. The Bonannos are especially rife.

And you, Drita, if you ever need to, use some of that moxie to wake him the fuck up. I just wish I'd known sooner you were fighting the good fight....

Brittany Fogarty, you've got the world at your feet. You're beautiful and intelligent and witty and as tough as your mom. The guy you end up with is the luckiest guy on planet earth.....now if only your mom would tell me more about Tommy Karate! I know she's holding out on me!!! LOL!! (Just kidding, Andrea. ....)


Big Ang thank you for exploding into our lives by appearing on the show.  You'll live forever now...



I'm still working on my Tommy Karate book (with my friend Frank Gangi). Frank knew Big Ang, and I'll tell you this: we have a hell of a Big Ang story to tell... you're all going to really love it.

Not all blogs are created equal, folks. You need to be careful what you read today. All bloggers, in my opinion, should contribute something, something .... rather than take up space and "pull" for the frauds and phonies just for limited access to worthless information...

I'll go on record here and now and say I never received a single dollar or gift from anyone I've ever written about. .... believe me, I was offered. I refused all gifts. I earn money via advertising. That's it ...(And my book sales, which I'm still waiting for more of you to purchase.)

A shout out to Dominick Cicale who was once attacked by one of the Mob Wives outside Rao's restaurant. (The food is shit, there, I don't see what the fuss is about that place.) This was years before the show.

I remember very clearly what Vinny Basciano told Dom, based on the version of that story that I heard:

"Dom, sometimes you gotta take one for the team!"

Did Dom take one for the team? Dom, you out
there? Gonna text you about this, man! LOL!
Dom will tell me.....


To Mob Wives' viewers. Everything you need to read about the show is right here and here.

There's a blog with excellent sources offering the true lowdown, folks.

It's called Reality Ashhole.... as one journalist to another, I doff my hat to the talented young lady writing that blog. I ask all my readers with an interest in Mob Wives  to go to Reality Ashhole.

I'm including the blog in my personal roll call of recommended blogs.... she's got the Mob Wives news worth reading. She's not one of those phony blogs pulling for the "big shots" (more like has-beens...)

Remember this, too:

"Thinking straight about the world is a precious and difficult process that must be carefully nurtured. By attempting to turn our critical intelligence off and on at will, we risk losing it altogether.... 

"The underlying causes of faulty reasoning and erroneous beliefs will never be eliminated. People will always prefer black-and-white over shades of grey, and so there will always be the temptation to hold overly-simplified beliefs and to hold them with excessive confidence...."

That's from  How We Know What Isn't So: Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life by Thomas Gilovich.

Either you get it or you don't.
One final word: I'm saddened to learn Meyer Lansky, or the person using his avatar, now in the comments for months, and whom I'd taken a strong liking to...  is a phony. 
Someone sincerely interested in Lansky would've understood my joke about Belmont racetrack.... so I checked Meyer's email address. It has "Graz" in it..... see where I'm going with this....? 

I'd like to end this journey on an upbeat note: enjoy...

The Last, Last Mob Wives Blog...

Did anyone see the belt?????

I think I pulled the Mob Wives plug far too prematurely.

In hindsight I was far too charitable, I see.

I feel for Drita and Britanny.... and the bullshit editing makes me and should make all viewers furious.




It's clear this show is all made in the editing booth.... why do you think that is?

I can't even write right now because I'm so furious.

Jennifer Graziano isn't who I thought she was. Not at all. That's 100 percent clear. Congratulations, JustJenn. You're a propagandist who had a good idea for a show, but not a clue how to execute it.

"I've gotten nuthin but words for you!" Karen said. You heard it.

Adam, the producer, is Jennifer's puppet.....

I'm gonna do a sort of Mob Wives retrospective of my own, based on what we've all seen together, going back to the beginning.... Before the beginning...

Jennifer Graziano, of all people, should know Karen is dangerous with her words. She said something that could've got somebody killed in the old days. I'm NOT kidding. She hid behind security.

And JustJenn got all the other wives off the hook... (Except Big Ang, who was never part of this jackpot, I've got total respect for her and won't include her in this. She knew the street and carried herself with dignity in my view.)

I've got more to say, a whole lot more. I'll be posting another Mob Wives Blog.... as Drita'd say,"Right muthaf---kin here."

It's gonna get really f--in ugly now, trust me....

You don't say you're loyal.... You show it with your actions.

Is that not obvious?

Drita, Brittany "Own" Rest of Cast in MW Finale

Brittany Fogarty
In the past year, I've talked to a few mob wives -- by that I mean woman married to made guys.

The general consensus about VH1's Mob Wives is that the women are a disgrace and an embarrassment to all Italian-Americans. Some are even "frauds," "rats" and "whores."

One source said something that resonated:
Noting the proliferation of reality shows as a genre (which got a huge boost because of the 2008 screenwriters' strike -- plus, producers love reality shows, which offer a low-budget/huge-potential-profit proposition), as well as the fact that some women on the show really are from the street and had difficult lives, he almost whispered (perhaps so his wife wouldn't hear him):

"They got all these other housewives on other reality shows, basketball, New Jersey shows, so why shouldn't these Mob Wives women make something out of this too?"

Spoken like a true wiseguy. I agree.


Drita D'Avanzo and Brittany Fogarty kick ass tomorrow night -- quite literally... Well, they try to, but security won't allow them.

It's apparent now that the animosity is realer than I ever imagined on Mob Wives -- and Brittany and Drita own the rest of the cast, as you'll see tomorrow night.

I don't like Brittany because I know her mother, as someone implied. I like her because she's real and loyal and ballsy as hell. Search my site -- you'll see what I have written about a lot of the Mob Wives -- especially my early blogs, prior to Philadelphia. You'll see, very easily, how I feel about who the chief instigator on the show is. I just didn't know she was a complete and utter coward to boot....

Drita and Brittany are their own dynamic duo -- they stick together and are ready for battle.

Some of them may talk a good game, have "dramatic breakdowns" and such -- but when it's time to put up or shut up -- they do the shutting up.

I am basing my proselytizing on a blog that seems to have the inside track on the show, period.

Reality Ashhole has posted precisely what has been filmed -- although you never know what will happen in the editing stage, where they can tweak things.

Anyway, as the aforementioned blog noted:

The sit-down was filmed in a very tiny, narrow restaurant which is why if you look at the previews it looks like nobody can even fit inside the room and the security is soooo close to the girls.  

Drita and Brittany arrived first and security immediately checked their bags for weapons (Yes, I’m serious.)  

Drita yelled out, “What the f**k is up you punk ass mother f***ers!” as Karen Gravano and Marissa Jade were walking into the restaurant. 

Drita wanted security to leave and Adam the producer told all the girls on camera that if they ALL consent for security to leave, ON CAMERA, then security will leave and let them do whatever. Karen and Marissa REFUSED to consent and stayed quiet.  

Drita kept yelling and getting up and since security was so close they kept holding her shoulders and sitting her back down.  

When security separated them that’s when Karen FINALLY started talking shit to Drita calling Drita’s husband a punk

That's only a sample -- go to the site to see the whole story. I feel like I wasted so much time writing the first draft speculating what will happen. Well, that blog has it all.

One thing I have learned is that the show is not as fictional as you'd think. These women are sincerely battling it out -- on the show as well as on social media.

I spoke with a source about Brittany and her mother, Andrea Giovino.



"Brittany is as fearless as her mother -- and that says a lot. You mess with one of them, you have a problem with both of them. Brittany might be young, but she was raised by Andrea Giovino and can run rings around anyone on that show -- she's smarter and sharper than all of them put together."

Andrea has a book out, Divorced from the Mob. It was her relationship with Frank Lino that was of interest to me when I contacted her last year. I didn't even know she was Brittany's mother. I knew Lino was Tommy Karate's captain.

Brittany, by simply befriending Drita D'Avanzo has given the sixth season its entire plot, apparently. 
As for getting down -- brawling, arguing, etc., I think she was ready to murder Marissa Jade in that episode. Seriously, the bodyguards earned their paychecks that day. Brittany would not give up -- she was determined to knock Marissa Jade's lights out. And she would have.

Why is Marissa even on the show? What was her storyline, anyway, except to say some crap about "the men." Uh oh... OZ is friends with Lee -- and he told her the girls all better get along. (Apparently Marissa's boyfriend, big bad OZ, is in the clink today -- because of Marissa! God, you can't make this shit up! Geez.... and Karen Gravano makes news by calling someone else a rat??? Are you serious????)

Brittany can even give it right back to a well-seasoned Mob Wives pro like Carla Facciolo. Furthermore, Brit does so without even working up a flush. Brittany is always poised, cucumber cool and deadly calm, even when she's ready to beat the crap out of you.

Drita, on the other hands, flares and screams -- you can literally see the anger welling up inside her. Her rage is mostly directed at Karen Gravano. There truly is some very bad blood between the two. Recall how Drita was ready to vomit when Karen suddenly returned to the show....She wasn't so crazy to see Carla's return, either.

Brittany and Drita are actually the perfect pair. It's no wonder the two of them get along so well. As Carla Facciolo said to Brittany at the ballgame, "Drita always sees black too!" 

Drita is the real deal. She is willing to take on all comers.
Only the comers wait for security to hold them back
before growing a pair....


Brittany mentioned some interesting points in an interview I found online. (So many blogs speculate instead of finding firsthand information. I guess if you favor the losers, that's the route to go....)

"I think the show was looking to pull in a younger viewership. I am 24, pretty young. I was born into a family of crime. So that's kind of how they brought me in. My father was very close with Karen's dad, Sammie the Bull. They spent 8 years together in prison. My mother, my uncles, all have a background in crime and are from Brooklyn, Staten Island and NY. That's where my whole family was born and raised."
"I'm younger and my different option on things really stirs up some crazy drama in the group. We still have a month of filming but it's going to be an exciting season....

"I am drifting to people that I feel are genuine... During past seasons I always thought it was ridiculous when they brought in people who have no connection or history.... I do have a strong connection to the lifestyle. My father and Sammy were very close, my mother hung out with John Gotti, so there is a strong connection there..."

As for her other cast members:
"You can't force who you like. I really love Drita... She's great. The one thing about Drita that I noticed after going back and watching past seasons is that she is exactly the same on camera as she is off. If I am sitting on the phone with her at 12 a.m. shooting the breeze, she is exactly the same as when we are filming. There is no fakeness, no phoniness."
"I am your typical don't-judge-a-book-by-it's-cover kind of girl. I look like a little California girl. You would look at me and think 'oh she's this nice little sweet blonde girl.' But meanwhile I am half Irish and half Italian and they say we have the best tempers. But I am a nice person and will be super nice to you until you give me a reason not to be. Then my crazy mob wife/daughter background comes out. It's funny because my mom is from Brooklyn and we ended up living in Pennsylvania because when my father cooperated they moved us to there. So my mom raised me in Pennsylvania but at the snap of a finger that Brooklyn would come right back out of her. Like with me, people would look at me and expect me to be a dumb model, but I'm not. I am quick witted and quick with my mouth...."




Carla Facciolo & Mikie Scars -- and what happened
Carla Facciolo ... Quite by chance I know a lot -- an awful lot -- about Carla.

I met this guy named Mikie Scars. We've had many conversations about a lot of topics, including Carla Facciolo. 
"Yes, it's true," he said, regarding an affair the two had while Michael was married to ToniMarie Ricci.

He said he "cheated on TonieMarie with Carla Facciolo" from Mob Wives. Furthermore he added that despite what Carla has said to the contrary Carla knew he was married to ToniMarie at the time of their relationship. (Apparently so does most of Brooklyn, Staten Island and possibly other boroughs.)

Michael DiLeonardo reminded me that it's in his testimony.

A source told me: "ToniMarie never went anywhere while he was taking Carla and a lot of other women all over the place. He used to take Carla and her friends out on yachts and shit."

Since the show is nearly over -- and this is my last Mob Wives blog, I will add a few quick thoughts:

-- The key difference with Mob Wives and other reality shows is that Renee Graziano has leverage over all the other cast members. Her sister, Jennifer, is the show's producer.
Still, Renee is better off hiding -- she's quite horrible when she displays her true personality...

I still recall her interview with Sway. (You HAVE to listen to this.)

The Grazianos chose that forum to bolster sales of their cookbook, the one with Meat Cleaver in the title.

Sway doesn't let them slide; the interview gets uncomfortable. 
Renee has another book out, too: Playing with Fire. She also has her Mob Candy line, over which she's been sued.
Most of them have been able to whip up some extra cash by finding ways to monetize their infamy from being on the show. Which reminds me...

A frontal assault that can't be avoidedI don't like to attack other bloggers, so I won't name where I read the following. 
This is truly something else....

Frankly, I was floored in learning of Brittany Fogarty joining the Mob Wives franchise. For reasons I am not comfortable to share, out of respect for private conversations. For clarity, I’m not referring to any conversation with Brittany. 

My take on Brittany Fogarty in regards to her Mob Wives scenes only: 

She’s seemingly has become Drita’s puppet. It’s comical for me to see her one minute tell Karen, “….no one tells me what to do….” Then see her with Drita slurping up the advice to tell Carla this and Renee that. In conclusion, Karen Gravano isn’t lying about Andrea Giovino giving the Feds information. It’s not a secret. What I don’t understand is the denial about what has been well documented. Oh the irony continues.

I don't know where to even begin with this kind of fake-insider crap that says something so idiotic it's nearly unbelievable. Did this woman get paid money to write this nonsense or is she writing this shit wholly out of pretense..?

An end game? Does it really say that? Perhaps, the writer means Brittany will write a book, like Renee Graziano decided, quite suddenly (and unbelievably) at the end of one season? (That'd be the porn book, not the meat cleaver book. Never mind all the other crap...By the way, someone compiled a list of every orgasm in Renee's book... just for those interested.)

I sometimes feel so aghast by what other bloggers write -- how they mine social media for story lines... it's quite ridiculous.

I am done with this show. Over and out.

The Last "Mob Wives" Blog, Part One

In "College," Tony brutally murders a rat, Fabian Petrulio.
"One thing about us wiseguys, the hustle never ends...."

Tony Soprano whispers those words to Fabian Petrulio (aka Frederick Peters, a former member of the fictional New Jersey mob family, who flipped.)

The two -- Tony and Fred -- had been effectively hunting each other for the past day. Fabian blew his chance to kill Tony the night before at the motel where the New Jersey mob boss was staying with his tiny young daughter. Too many witnesses.


The next morning however he was still trying. Petrulio (or Peters) tries to hire a junkie to kill both Tony and his daughter. "Gray Lincoln town car. New model." But not even a junkie and his girlfriend will cross that line. They are not going to commit murder. Fred Peters then begins to work the phone (our rat hasn't changed much since Witness Protection. He deals drugs and participated in an arson...)



It is precisely this ambiguity which David Chase so wisely worked into the very fiber of the show, using it to provide justification for Tony's actions. Well, he wanted to kill Tony -- and his daughter! The rat deserves what he got!   This clever game Chase played with us during the show's entire run. Chase did all he could do to make Tony as evil as possible, while also stacking the deck in such a way -- against us, the viewers -- that he was able to render us complicit in Tony's criminality.

One of Tony's most brutal murders on HBO's The Sopranos. He's driving his daughter to visit colleges.



Tony was in the clear. He could've just left with his daughter, unmolested. Instead Tony has tasted blood. He wants to kill. And so back to the beginning:
"Jimmy says hello from hell, you fuck!" He yells and fiercely yanks the cord, pulling Petrulio off his feet, then leaping forward, Tony lands on top of him, the makeshift garrote ripping the sides of Tony's hands as he growls and strangles the life out of Petrulio.

Tony even places a finger on his neck afterward, checking for a pulse.

This Soprano's episode -- from season one, episode 5 -- called "College", is a personal favorite (though Pine Barrens is the greatest single episode of all). See the above described segment on YouTube here.

The plot involves Tony driving his daughter upstate so she can visit colleges (and "get over this Berkeley kick," as Carmella informs us). In the process he encounters, quite by chance, a turncoat -- a "rat" who testified against Tony's crime family.

It's during College that, for the first and I believe only time, Tony has an honest discussion with his daughter, Meadow, so small and vulnerable beside him.

"Are you in the Mafia?" she suddenly asks, bluntly, during the drive.

Tony is obviously startled and in a flash we see the myriad thoughts blooming in his head before he swiftly composes himself.

"Am I in the what!" Tony's words sound phony initially, fabricated, a speech prepared long ago.

Meadow reveals to him that she knows a lot more than he may think. She reminds him of all those times the police showed up at casa Soprano with warrants, how many times she saw him leaving home at 3 a.m.

"I'm in the waste management business, everyone automatically assumes you're mobbed up!" he soon barks at her. Cliche crap. "It's a stereotype and it's offensive! And you're the last person I'd want to perpetuate it!"

Then the final indignity: "There is no Mafia!"

Brief silence looms as Tony understands he needs to reel his argument back in a few notches.

"Look, Meadow...." he starts. Then a glib excuse to directly address her evidence: Some of his money comes from "illegal gambling and whatnot."

Meadow is wise enough to see through his paper-thin argument, he realizes. His little girl has grown up on him.

Then it's Meadow who, likely unknowingly, begins to justify her father's criminal lifestyle, noting that other dads she knows are hypocrites, holding positions in "big tobacco" or, even worse, as lawyers.

Tony, perhaps sensing the potential harm he's inflicting on her mind as she starts down the long, dark path of denial, doesn't join in. Instead, he changes the subject. "Some of my money also comes from the stock market--"

"Dad, don't mealy-mouth now."

This is an excellent episode. The Sopranos, overall, is probably the most realistic viewpoint we will ever have of daily life for families with members involved in organized crime.

The Mafia foremost is a secret society composed entirely of males. The wives, daughters and sisters are not part of it -- but can be complicit based on the extent of their knowledge, what they will condone or not condone. In the end, while living with a Mafioso father or husband, the woman lives off "blood money" whether she knows this or not. This is all weighty stuff -- and the countless flashes of knowledge the daughter or wife experiences throughout life only serves to further damage them, mostly psychologically. In the end we all choose our own beds.

It's a troubling psychological issue for everyone involved but I'd say the daughters and wives are inflicted with the worst psychological torment of all. They don't know if daddy will leave the house one night and turn up dead in car trunk a week later. (Parents with abusive or alcoholic fathers/family members probably go through a similar PTSD-type of experience, I believe. What's different? Really, the trappings of the lifestyle... In the mobster's case, it historically meant untold affluence. These days....?)

But it is the showcasing of this very dynamic -- the "women of the Mafia" that made Mob Wives such an interesting show, at first....

You honestly didn't think I'd let Mob Wives reach the end of the road without weighing in, did you?

The majority of us, who know nothing about what the true mob wife or daughter goes through, were promised a view into this very lifestyle. Only the show wasn't what it was billed to be. (And it couldn't possibly be. Real wiseguys and their women wouldn't go near such a show. And they didn't. Yes, Renee and Jennifer Graziano's father was a Bonanno capo, but he was shelved over the show. And he's never been seen or heard in a single episode and is rarely been mentioned.)

In fact it's been established that the Five Families, quite literally, are furious with the show. I am not saying that at any point anyone on the show is or was targeted by the Mafia, but there's been some consequences.

One incarcerated wiseguy or associate (not sure what his association was) was nearly killed over something related to Mob Wives, as Gangland News reported

Go read Linda Scarpa's book, The Mafia Hit Man's Daughter, if you seek a true, realistic and accurate depiction of what it's like to live with a mobster in the family.

Click image to purchase.

Still, the show could've evolved in a number of ways -- though it ultimately took the approach of most reality shows -- the formula for reality-show success, which calls for fighting and arguing.

Who better to engage in such activities than so-called mob wives?

The boiled-down essence of this formula is: one larger group goes after the one or two "characters" who somehow don't fit in or don't want to fit in with the rest.

Last year, it was Natalie Guercio -- and this year, quite clearly, it was (or is) Brittany Fogarty.

BritMy interest level was higher previously due to the inclusion of one person: Alicia DiMichele. She "was the most mobbed up of them all," as I noted, because she, more than anyone, personified what a "mob wife" goes through. She's married to a made member of the Colombo crime family, Eddie "The Tall Guy" Garofalo, who is in the crew of the ever-imprisoned Colombo maniac-capo Teddy Persico.

This blog is about the mob; the show nicely converged with my coverage at the time.

This year the dynamic just wasn't there. Instead we have.... Marissa Jade?  I mean, c'mon, Marissa Jade?

She comes across as a minor, first of all. And I love the way we are told "she is a model" and we then get to see a photographer take photos of her -- wow, she's a real model!!

The model conceit is how they have been introducing a lot of Mob Wives onto the show the past few years. Even our beloved Natalie Guercio, who quickly caught our attention after Alicia slipped away from the VH1 show for legal reasons...apparently.

This year though, they have a bona fide real model -- Brittany Fogarty. She walks down runways clad in cutting-edge designer apparel.

Yet you wouldn't have known that until later in the season. This I believe was the tip-off that Brittany was on the outs with the most important person on mob wives....

To be continued later today.....

No Bail for Montreal Mafia's Two Bosses

Leonardo RizzutoLeonardo Rizzuto, son of deceased Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto, and Stefano Sollecito, who together helmed the powerful Canadian Cosa Nostra clan, will not be released on bail, a Quebec court ruled last Friday, noting that releasing them risked undermining the justice system and also jeopardized public safety.

The Rizzuto organization is currently engaged in a war against elements of the Ndrangheta and former members of the Rizzuto clan who turned while Vito was imprisoned. Only last week, one of the Rizzuto family's key members was whacked -- which certainly wouldn't have helped the Cosa Nostra co-bosses in their effort to obtain release on bail.

The ruling must be particularly difficult for the 48-year-old Sollecito — Vito Rizzuto’s former lieutenant — who had to appear before the Quebec judge via video conferencing. He suffers from cancer and was making his appearance from another location, a detention center. "Sollecito is battling cancer and could be heard writhing in pain several times during the proceedings," as the Montreal Gazette noted.

The two face primary charges of drug trafficking and gangsterism following their arrest last November as part of a three-pronged raid focused on interlocking arrangements between several organized crime entities to facilitate drug trafficking in Montreal.

Leonardo worked in the Montreal law office of Loris Cavaliere, also arrested; so were numerous members of the Montreal Mafia, the Hells Angels MC and street gangs in the region.

Rizzuto was identified by law enforcement as one of two bosses of the Montreal Mafia family previously run by his father, Vito, who died of cancer (allegedly) in December 2013. Leonardo was arrested on Nov. 19 as part of Projects Magot and Mastiff, a joint investigation into drug trafficking in the city.


Giovanna Cammalleri waits in court for her son Leonardo Rizzuto's bail hearing in Montreal. ALLEN MCINNIS / MONTREAL GAZETTE

Rizzuto was charged with drug trafficking and gangsterism -- the latter crime was introduced into Canada's Criminal Code in 1997 as means to sentence organized crime members to additional years than previous guidelines allowed. There is no equivalent to America's Mafia-decimating RICO act in Canadian law (which Leonardo would well know, considering he was a lawyer).

Nine new criminal charges were filed against Leonardo at the Montreal courthouse, right before his bail hearing commenced.

University of Notre Dame professor G. Robert Blakey is considered the nation's foremost authority on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, having written it. 

"The remedy under criminal law is to take away the criminal. But if you just take people out one by one -- and all of the conditions remain the same -- it doesn't matter how many individual convictions you get," Blakey noted in a report.

See my interview with Blakey.

The new charges seem relatively minor in comparison to the initial indictment. One new count alleges Rizzuto was in possession of cocaine, but not a large enough quantity to be deemed as part of a drug trafficking operation. The other eight charges are related to two seized firearms — a Browning semi-automatic pistol and a Walther semi-automatic pistol. One charge specifically references a prohibited and loaded firearm found in Rizzuto’s home.

Evidence heard during the hearing and denial of bail was placed under Canada's "publication ban" -- essentially meaning the media won't be getting a hold of it anytime soon.

The main charge announced during the arrests is related to participating in a conspiracy to traffic in drugs between Jan. 1, 2013, and Nov. 16 of last year.

Leonardo Rizzuto, a member of the Quebec Bar Association, was convicted twice in the past for impaired driving. He was sentenced to 14 days in prison in 1995.

Sollecito -- son of Mafia leader Rocco Sollecito, 67 -- was arrested in 2001, as part of a Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit investigation dubbed Project Oltre. The investigation, based in Ontario, uncovered a group that had distributed tens of thousands of ecstasy pills in Canada.

Sollecito ended up with a four-year prison term in Project Oltre, having convicted of drug trafficking and the illegal possession of a firearm.

According to a Parole Board of Canada decision made in 2003, while serving his sentence, Sollecito was “perceived as a person who had power over other inmates.”

Both Rizzuto and Sollecito have been detained since Nov. 19.

Currently, 44 face charges related to Project Magot/Mastiff.

The Canadian mob war has probably claimed at least as many lives so far.

Vito Rizzuto swiftly took charge when he returned home from prison, marshaled his forces and with the true guile of a tested Cosa Nostra boss, set loose the dogs of war by first testing his own men's loyalty.

Much of this information was revealed via wiretap recordings of a Canadian mobster living in Sicily who revealed then-unknown details about the recent Mafia war that killed more than 40 people in Montreal, Toronto, Mexico and Italy. (One of the killings may have happened in the U.S., in Florida.)

The target of a wide-ranging investigation in Palermo, the mobster offered a blow by blow account of Rizzuto's vendetta from its initial stages, which took place in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, where Rizzuto "summoned top henchmen to secret meetings..."

What was discussed?

Well, if you were invited and failed to attend, you were "among his first targets."

Prison Memoir Details Arizona Sitdown with Gravano's Crew

"English Shaun" awaits trial in Maricopa County jail.
"The first time I discussed business with members of Sammy the Bull’s crew, I brought along one of the notorious Rossetti Brothers, who also worked security for me."
--Shaun Attwood, Hard Time

Shaun Attwood is a Brit who came to America, Arizona specifically, to seek his fortune -- he accomplished that and a whole lot more, but his story didn't end there.

Busted via a predawn SWAT raid as if he were a cartel boss, he spent years in one of America’s toughest jails—the one run by the self-described toughest sheriff in America, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County.
Shaun soon counted mobsters, Aryan skinheads, bikers, transvestites and assorted other colorful criminals as among his friends.

You may know about Shaun via his superb blog, Jon's Jail Journal, where he detailed his experiences while on the inside. He also was the focus of an episode of Locked Up Abroad.
If you've watched Making a Murderer you should know that Shaun Attwood is now an advocate for the innocent and is doing groundbreaking work in the Steven Avery case. If you Google his name, you will see the widespread impact of his labors. As noted on Decider, one of the more recent issues is Teresa Halbach's death certificate:

New evidence connected to Netflix’s docu-series, Making a Murderer, has been released to the public, and just like everything else in this case, it’s confusing. As reported byUproxx, Teresa Halbach’s death certificate has been obtained through Freedom of Information requests, and it’s a complete mess of contradictions. You can look at the certificate yourself at StevenAveryCase.org. .... 

If you want to explore this more, Shaun Attwood, a British prison rights advocate, has broken down all of the inconsistencies in Halbach’s death certificate. The video was originally pointed out by Bustle.....

The American debut of his book, "Hard Time: Life with Sheriff Joe Arpaio in America's Toughest Jail" was published in 2011 (I'm acknowledged in it, along with a multitude of others)....
The excerpt below involves how he brushed up against Sammy Bull Gravano's crew. This was when Gravano was released from prison for testifying against the New York Mafia:

In the Ecstasy market, I had run-ins with gangsters such as Sammy the Bull, my main competitor.

Yes, this Sammy the Bull.....

The first time I discussed business with members of Sammy the Bull’s crew, I brought along one of the notorious Rossetti Brothers, who also worked security for me. Outside of the meeting place, Heart 5 in Tucson, I drank some GHB, which had the effect of making me fearless. I said to Rossetti, “While I talk to Spaniard, make sure you’re always somewhere you can pull your gun in case they try to kidnap me. I’m not going to start any shit, but who knows how big a crew he’s with or what might happen.”

“No problem. If they try anything, I’ll open up on the motherfuckers.”

I was at the bar when a six-and-a-half-foot man with blond spiky hair and biceps as broad as my neck tapped me on the shoulder. “I’m Mark, Spaniard’s partner. He wants to see you in the VIP area.” 

“OK, Mark.” I shook his hand and followed him.

“Glad you came, English Shaun,” said Spaniard, a well-groomed Hispanic. “Mark, clear that sofa so we can all sit down.”

Mark yelled, “You need to move, so we can sit down!” The people on the sofa jumped up.

To the side of us, Rossetti slipped into the VIP area.

As I sat down between the two of them, the GHB jolted my brain. It made me playful and crazy. Like my grandfather used to do to me, I squeezed their legs just above the knee, and said, “So what’s this all about?”

They were taken aback for a few seconds, then Spaniard laughed, and said in a friendly voice, “Look, we know you’re doing your own thing. You’ve got a lotta people working for you. As do we. It would be best if we worked together rather than be enemies.”

“What’re you proposing?” There are not many things in the world more reckless than an Englishman on GHB, yet I could always negotiate business shrewdly no matter how high I was.

“We’re getting a lotta pills, and we figure we can give you a better price than what you’re paying.”

“You don’t know what I’m paying. I’m familiar with your pills, and I don’t think the quality is there. I’m getting European pills. None of the coloured pills you guys are getting.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are talking shit about our pills?” Mark yelled.

Because of the GHB, Mark didn’t scare me. I viewed him as a monster, but a funny one with a little brain.

“Hey, Mark, calm down,” Spaniard said.

“Do you have any idea who Jimmy Moran is?” Mark said, fuming.

“No,” I said.

“Sammy the Bull,” Mark said. “That’s who we work for. One call to him and we can have you taken out to the desert.”

I was aware of Sammy the Bull from the news. He’d been a hit man for the Gambino Crime Family run by John Gotti a.k.a. “The Teflon Don.” Later on, he became an FBI informant, confessed to killing nineteen people, and helped the Feds put The Teflon Don away for life. Still, looking at those two in their leopard-print polyester shirts, I assumed they didn’t have as much power in Arizona as my associates in the New Mexican Mafia. I glanced at Rossetti. The look on his face said, Should I shoot that lunkhead or what?

Almost imperceptibly, I shook my head at Rossetti.

“There’s no need to say all that,” Spaniard said. “Forgive Mark, Shaun. He gets upset real easy. He’s a bit of a hothead.”

“I have no problems with you guys, but I really don’t care who you work for. You just moved in. Over the years, I’ve made friends with a lot of locals,” I said, playing it like a gangster.

“I hear you,” Spaniard said, implying he knew of my connections. “But what if we can get you a better price on pills, would you be interested?”

“I appreciate the offer, guys, but no thanks. And here’s why: before you guys moved into Ecstasy, the police pretty much ignored us. Now your runners are going around bragging they’re the biggest Ecstasy barons in the world. That’s brought considerable heat to the scene. And I’m not saying this to put you guys down, but to give you a heads-up on what’s happening. Every weekend at the raves, we’ve got undercover cops and vehicles hanging around. We’ve got undercover vehicles taping who’s going in and out of the raves, and driving through the parking lots taping licence plates. It’s no coincidence that the police moved in shortly after you guys. It’s not each others crews we need to beware of, it’s the cops.”

“What about your security team?” Spaniard asked.

“What about it?” I asked.

“Will our runners have problems with your security guys jacking their pills?”

“I don’t want to start a war with you guys. If my security grab someone, and we find out they’re part of your crew, we’ll let them go. Ecstasy’s so hard to get and the demand so high, there’s enough of a market for us to coexist. But if I tell my security not to jack your runners, I don’t expect any problems from you guys for my runners in the Scottsdale scene.”

“Sounds like a good agreement,” Spaniard said, and shook my hand.

Years later, when I became friends with Sammy the Bull’s son, Gerard Gravano, he said he’d headed a crew dispatched to kidnap me from The Crowbar in Phoenix. Wild Man and his girlfriend had fought that night, so we had to leave the club in a hurry. That’s why the Bull’s crew just missed us.

Key Rizzuto Loyalist Slain This Week

Lorenzo Giordano was gunned down this past Tuesday.
A member of the Montreal Mafia formerly headed by deceased mob boss Vito Rizzuto was murdered this week -- indicating the Rizzuto clan may be on the defensive following the loss of its historic boss and more recently, a takedown that targeted the group's new hierarchy.

Lorenzo Giordano, 52, was gunned down in a Laval parking lot Tuesday morning and died in the hospital from his injuries, a Montreal Gazette source confirmed.

The Sûreté du Québec, which wouldn't confirm the victim's name, said he'd been shot "at least once" in Carrefour Multisports's parking lot early Tuesday morning. Due to the alleged ties to organized crime, the Sûreté du Québec took over the case from the Laval police department, the Gazette reported.
He's part of the Monreal Mafia group's younger generation of leaders, which according to reports served as Rizzuto's key shooters. Giordano was reportedly involved chiefly in bookmaking.

The Rizzuto family, whose bosses were taken down as part of a major investigation, now seemingly needs available mobsters of Giordano's ilk. This may have been a strategic move by elements of a rival Ndrangheta faction and any Rizzuto clan dissidents who survived Vito's blood purge before dying of cancer.

"Giordano was one of six men who acted as leaders in the Montreal Mafia while it was the subject of Project Colisée, a lengthy RCMP-led investigation that left the Mafia’s ranks badly depleted," the Gazette noted.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2009 — one of the harshest sentences of the six men. Giordano still had 10 years to serve but was released under conditions to a halfway house last December.


Rizzuto Family Boss's Brother Recently nabbed in the U.S.
Girolamo Del Balso -- the younger brother of Francesco, 45, a Mafia leader who was one of six who took control  after Vito was jailed in the U.S. and the group's hierarchy nearly destroyed by Project Colisée -- was arrested late last month in Arizona after a drug-trafficking police dog sniffed out 62 kilograms of cocaine in Girolamo's vehicle, published reports noted.